1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for controlling the driving of an auxiliary device in a portable computer. A computer embodying the invention is capable of controlling the driving of an internal auxiliary device such as a touch pad, and the driving of an external auxiliary device such as an USB (Universal Serial Bus) mouse in a portable computer, such as a notebook computer.
2. Background of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of elements of a typical portable computer. The computer includes a keyboard controller driver or a system BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) 10; a keyboard controller 11; and a keyboard 12. Also, the computer may additionally include an internal auxiliary device 13 such as a touch pad or a pointing stick; an external auxiliary device 14 such as a PS/2 (Personal System/2) mouse; and a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) memory 15.
The keyboard controller driver or the system BIOS initializes the internal auxiliary device such as a touch pad 13 and the external auxiliary device such as a PS/2 mouse 14 through an interface with the keyboard controller 11 when the system power is turned on. Also, the keyboard controller 11 performs a series of operations for driving the touch pad 13 and the PS/2 mouse 14.
Recently, an external auxiliary device using an USB interface, for example a USB mouse, may be attached to a computer as the external auxiliary device 14. A USB mouse is not connected with the keyboard controller 11, but instead is directly connected with the keyboard controller driver or the system BIOS 10. As a result, the keyboard controller 11 is unable to perceive the connection status of the USB mouse, and driving of the internal auxliary device such as the touch pad 13 is not automatically disabled when a USB mouse is attached to the computer.
Upon performance of the general booting process of the computer, when the touch pad or the PS/2 mouse is not attached to the computer, the system BIOS 10 recognizes that the touch pad or the PS/2 mouse is not present in the current system, because the touch pad or the PS/2 mouse does not respond when the system BIOS 10 attempts to initialze the touch pad or the PS/2 mouse. Therefore, if the system is booted without a mouse attached, but a user intends to use a mouse by attaching it to the computer after the boot operation is performed, the mouse is not usable. In order to use the mouse, a user must turn off the system power and physically attach the mouse to the computer, and then boot the system again so that the system BIOS 10 may recognize the mouse.
Similarly, if the computer boots up with a mouse attached, the touch pad is disabled at the CMOS setup. In this instance, the touch pad operates as if it were not connected physically with the keyboard controller. In order to operate the touch pad, the system should be booted again after the CMOS setup is enabled, or after the mouse has been disconnected. In other words, if a user wants to switch from an internal pointing device to an external pointing device after the boot operation, or vice versa, it is necessary to re-boot the system.